Dawn Akemi - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Raised in Hawaii, I lived in Washington DC, Seattle, and Minneapolis before settling in Los Angeles. My career path includes Certified Public Accountant, Sales, Chef, Artist, and, most beloved, Acting. I have been acting for over a decade on stages in Minneapolis and L.A., including The Empty Stage, The Cast, The Interact Theater, The Raven Playhouse, and Art/Works Theatre, with experience ranging from experimental and physical to classical and comedy. My film credits include Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God. I am a big believer in ongoing actor training and have studied Meisner, Method, Improvisation, Grotowski, Chekhov, Suzuki, Viewpoints, Voice, Movement and Dance. When I am not ardently pursuing craft and career, I love to cook, hike, design jewelry, and knit.
Please enjoy this playlist of some of my newest work: a sneak-peek from a film, Onan, I just worked on in India, and some improv with my troupe, The Magic Meathands:
Please enjoy the 5 minute short film below, "Hammer", written and directed by Liz Rizzo. I play the lead, Becca, a woman who is plotting a violent revenge against her unfaithful ex.
Lately, I've been exploring comedy and improv with The Empty Stage. Every Friday night, they have an open mike night. Marshalling my courage together, I decided to take the plunge. Please enjoy my virgin stand up performance... the video is 6.5 minutes long.
Hope you have fun with my second stand-up performance. I created a new routine that was a little less blue, with a little more social commentary. It is 4.5 minutes long.

My Interests

Art. Acting. Writing. Hiking. Cooking. Any craft with my hands. Global warming and living "green". Preventing animal cruelty. Gardening. Water based activities (swimming, boating, etc).

I'd like to meet:

Jared Diamond, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Dalai Lama, Joseph Campbell, The Original Cave Painters in France, Aaron Russo, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Eckhart Tolle, Jesus, Alan Watts, Julia Cameron, Buddha, Stephen Hawking, Elizabeth II, my grand parents.

Music:

My musical tastes are all over the map!

Movies:

Princess Bride, Pan's Labyrinth, Network, Idiocracy, Throne of Blood, Sunset Boulevard, Star Wars, Sideways, Crash, Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes (original version), The Audition (from Japan), Old Boy (from Korea), Amadeus, Braveheart, Why We Fight, An Inconvenient Truth, The Corporation, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Harold Lloyd's Safety Last.

Television:

The Original Star Trek Series, Deadwood, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Gilligan's Island, Wild Wild West, Kung Fu, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Heroes, The Wire, Rome, All in the Family, The Simpsons, Iron Chef.

Books:

Any History, Psychology, Sociology, Spirituality, Science...basically, most non-fiction...cookbooks, craft books...and any science fiction/fantasy.

Heroes:

Nature.

My Blog

Yes, and... A Metaphor for Life

I love improvisation! For those of your who haven't seen improv, it's stage performing where there is no script& the actors write as they perform. It is literally jumping on stage and not knowing wh...
Posted by Dawn Akemi on Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:30:00 PST

My Virgin Stand-Up Performance

Stand-up comedy, in my opinion, is what crazy actors do! An actor is alone onstage with nothing but a microphone and the audience's reaction to work off of& telling their own personally written obser...
Posted by Dawn Akemi on Mon, 05 Nov 2007 01:43:00 PST

An Audition Story

I audition for commercials a lot and get called back fairly regularly, but I haven't booked a job for a while. I anticipate the end of this long running cold streak& the sooner, the better. Of cours...
Posted by Dawn Akemi on Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:00:00 PST

The 24 Hour Play

Last night, I performed in a 24 Hour Play, which I do every now and again: a play which is written, directed, and performed in 24 hours. Typically, it's a one time performance& though the theatre gro...
Posted by Dawn Akemi on Mon, 23 Jul 2007 04:07:00 PST

Do You Love the Ocean

We are all connected viscerally to the ocean. Many of us love it so much we have to live near a beach. So, please, take a look at "Altered Oceans." Prepare for a punch in the gut...Our oceans are in...
Posted by Dawn Akemi on Sun, 22 Jul 2007 01:16:00 PST

Meaningful Transitions

Funny, what a difference two weeks can make.I recently returned from a two week visit to Hawaii and my family after 10 years away. This visit was transformational. After so long away to deliberately...
Posted by Dawn Akemi on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 05:50:00 PST

love and relationships

Many, many, many&.too many moons ago, I dated Steve. He was typically Midwestern conservative, sporting a mullet two years out of date, but he had a reckless, black leather wearing, motorcycle tourin...
Posted by Dawn Akemi on Thu, 17 May 2007 10:40:00 PST

It's Hot Already

Yesterday, for the second time in less than a month, I saw massive smoke from a wildfire right near where I live in Los Angeles. To stand outside your door and witness the light changing around you wh...
Posted by Dawn Akemi on Wed, 09 May 2007 11:07:00 PST